Fifty people, eleven countries, one mission – to build a community which gathers multiple views, cultures, traditions, bringing on stage the powerful message of social theatre.
Based in West Lexham, in a welcoming environment, the project twined young minds from the 13th to the 23rd of April, 2015. To be part of this youth exchange, the participants arrived here from all over the world: UK, Turkey, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Palestine, Serbia, Jordan, Israel, Tunis, Peru and Italy.
The purpose of this project is to share theatrical and cultural experiences between fifty different artists, encouraging team work, freedom of expression and the ability to find solutions for social problems through theatre.
The participants got to know each other surprisingly fast, in spite of political, religious and cultural gaps. That was achievable due to intercultural nights when each country brings an insight into their traditions, food, dance, music and lifestyle.
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The project is built from a variety of sessions, workshops, activities and debates on issues like social exclusion and inclusion, marginalisation, poverty and intercultural relations.
So far, the members of the project worked prolifically on building trust through unifying activities such as energizers, improvisation and concentration exercises. They experienced different types of emotions through sessions as psychodrama.
An important part of the workshops is the ´Reflection Group´ where everyone gets to share their thoughts, their feelings and new skills acquired.
The next step to enforce the connections already built is organising a Treasure Hunt in the heavenly surroundings of West Lexham.
FINAL MISSION
To approach concepts like self and collective awareness they create constructive sketches, improvisations and short theatre scenes, preparing themselves for the final show, represented in the Westacre Theatre under the name of ´Heroes´
This play puts the attention on human warfare conflicts and shows haw unnecessary and absurd they are. It presents a bunch of people with different personalities, cultures and ways of being, who work together to build a world based on harmony, trust and peace.
You are all invited to contemplate and enjoy their performance on the 23rd of April in the Westacre Theatre at 19:00.
´What you get from achieving your goals is not as important as what you become on the way to accomplish them.´
Text Alexandra Spatarelu
Photo Ionela Flood
Sent from my iPhoneFREE Performance 22 April 2015, 7.00 pm-8.00 pm at Westacre Theatre, Norfolk , UK: "Social Theatre – Building a Chance for all''
From 13 April to 23 April an EU youth exchange project is taking place in West Lexham,
Norfolk, UK. The project "Social Theatre – Building a Chance for all" is funded under KA1 Erasmus Plus, European Union programme and coordinated by Romanca Society UK,www.romanca.co.uk, https://erasmusprojecthome.wordpress.com/.
This mobility is bringing together 55 participants from 11 EU and neighbouring countries: UK, Turkey, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Palestine, Serbia, Jordan, Israel, Tunis, Peru and Italy.
The participants will be exploring together ways in which Social Theatre can become a restructuring and healing mechanism for social relations. Here is a little sample of our activities:
http://www.magisto.com/album/video/ei4uAU1RRgA6d3kGDmEwCXh6?l=vsm&o=a&c=w
Social Theatre also known as Theatre of the Oppressed, a term coined by Augusto Boal, is a series of theatrical analyses and critiques developed in the 1950s. Boal is an avid supporter of utilizing interactive techniques, especially in the context of theatre. Many of his ideas are considered "a new media perspective" and have since then developed further and have been adapted to a modern-day context. The creation of the Theatre of the Oppressed is largely based on the idea of dialogue and interaction between audience and performer. Moreover, these ideas have served as a framework for the development and evolution of solutions for social issues.
We have carefully chosen the location, to combine a pearl of rural England for inspiration, proximity to London for communication, for creation and exquisite scenery for relaxation. West Lexham is a unique venue for rural retreats or countryside holidays, a work of passion and is crafted out of the heritage buildings that are the legacy of over 1000 years of farming and stewardship of nature. Set in a protected valley with the UK's cleanest chalk stream it is verdant and bursting with nature, floating water meadows, ancient trees, lakes and formal gardens to explore. http://www.westlexham.org/
The participants are interacting in daily workshops to achieve the objectives of the project :
· To promote tolerance among youth and break existing stereotypes by sharing their opinions and culture with participants from different countries.
· To promote inclusion as an essential value for young people with fewer opportunities and youth with social integration issues
· To stimulate participants to reflect on essential characteristics of the European society and foster mutual understanding between young people in different countries
· To increase participants' knowledge of theatre as a tool for social and cultural inclusion
· To contribute to the development of creative capabilities and skills in youth work using creative learning methods (theatre techniques)
You are warmly invited to enjoy the results of this project in a performance at West Acre Theatre, Norfolk on 22 April from 7pm. The local community and theatre lovers are invited to attend the free show and interact with the young actors from 11 countries.
We encourage local schools and voluntary sector organisation to attend the event and meet the project team. The event will be followed by drinks and snacks.
For more details please contact Ariadna Petri – Project manager: +44 203 769 1131, ariadna.petri@yahoo.com
Useful links:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialtheatre/
http://www.magisto.com/album/video/ei4uAU1RRgA6d3kGDmEwCXh6?l=vsm&o=a&c=w
The project is kindly supported by local partners: Joy of Sound, West Lexham Resort and Westacre Theatre.
Dr. Ionela Flood
Chair Romanca Society
This project is co-funded by the European Union
From: Romanian Cultural Institute London <office@icr-london.co.uk>
Date: 20 April 2015 14:05:25 BST
To: <ionelaflood@gmail.com>
Subject: Pianist Ilinca Dumitrescu and Bassoonist Vasile Macovei in the Enescu Concerts Series | Thu 7 May, 7pm
Reply-To: Romanian Cultural Institute London <office@icr-london.co.uk>
Pianist Ilinca Dumitrescu and Bassoonist Vasile Macovei in the Enescu Concerts Series | Thu 7 May, 7pm
Romanian Cultural Institute and Enescu Society in London cordially invite you to
ICR London, Thursday, 7 May, 7pm
Ilinca Dumitrescu - piano
Special Guest:
Vasile Macovei - bassoon
With impressive careers spanning over the last 30 years and innumerable apparitions on famous stages of Europe and beyond, pianist Ilinca Dumitrescu and bassoonist Vasile Macovei grace our 'Enescu Concerts' Series for a virtuoso incursion in the history of classical music. The programme matches legendary names of the Romantic and post-Romantic tradition with some of the greats of Romanian composition.
Robert Schuman:
Arabeske Op. 18
Domenico Scarlatti:
Sonata in C major K. 200
Sonata in B flat major K. 551
Sonata in D minor K. 141 (Toccata)
Sonata in D major K. 492
Frédéric Chopin:
Mazurka in F sharp minor Op. 6, No 1 and Mazurka in A minor Op. 67, No 4
Fantaisie – Impromptu Op. 66
Valse in C sharp minor Op. 64, No 2 and Valse in E minor Op. posth.
Largo from Sonata Op. 65 in G minor (transcription for bassoon and piano by Vasile Macovei)
Camille Saint- Saëns:
The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals Suite - transcription for bassoon and piano
Ciprian Porumbescu (1853-1883):Dorul (Longing) - transcription for bassoon and piano by Vasile Macovei
George Enescu (1881-1955):
Melodie and Carillon nocturne from Suite No 3, Op. 18
Ion Dumitrescu (1913-1996):
Five Aromanian songs - transcription for bassoon and piano by Vasile Macovei
Doru Popovici (born 1932):
Byzantine fresco - for bassoon solo
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976):
Nocturne
Paul Constantinescu (1909-1936):
Song and Toccata (Dance from Dobrogea)
Free. Seats allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Please book your seat on Eventbrite
Romanian Cultural Institute
1 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X8PH
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Romania at the London Book Fair 2015: starts tomorrow
Days of book launching events, talks and concerts.
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14-16 April, Olympia Exhibition Centre,
European Bookshop, Romanian Cultural Institute
Romania's 8th consecutive participation at the London Book Fair evokes, through the authors and the books reunited in a truly Romanian-British programme, the virtue of literature to precipitate great encounters and revelations: inner, cultural, geographical. At the same time, the events organised at Romania's stand in Olympia Exhibition Centre, at the Romanian Cultural Institute in 1 Belgrave Square and at the European Bookshop near Piccadilly Circus convey the power of words to reveal, through various yet equally legitimate discourses, even the most obscure or intricate facets of identity.
The Romanian programme revolves around two major writers - one Romanian, the other British - who have made their work, each in original way, the privileged space of major discoveries. Our special guest is poet Ana Blandiana, not only one of the most important postwar Romanian authors, but also a tireless campaigner for civic causes and builder of institutions devoted to the conservation of national memory. The other author we are celebrating is Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011), war hero, towering cultural personality and the most revered travel writer in Britain for decades, who transcribed, in hundreds of exquisite pages, the jubilation of his encounter with the people and the landscapes of Romania.
The three days of meetings, dialogues and book launches bring together, as in previous years, writers and academics who forged relevant and enduring links between the Romanian and the British cultural scene: poets Fleur Adcock and Vidyan Ravinthiran, translators Viorica Patea and Paul Scott Derrick, writer Liviu Antonesei, researchers Marius Turda, Daniel Briggs and Dorina Dobre, authors Nigel Shakespear and Ian Macilwain, historian Alan Ogden, journalist Tom Fort, as well as major cultural figures of the Romanian diaspora in the UK - Michael de Styrcea, Şerban Cantacuzino and Marie-Lyse Ruhemann, joined by musicians Nicolas Simion and Sorin Romanescu.
Tuesday 14 April
12pm/ Stand 5C120/ Olympia Exhibition Centre/ Hammersmith Road
The Inauguration of the Romanian Stand at the London Book Fair
The opening event at Romania's stand in Olympia Exhibition Centre, held in the presence of HE Dr Ion Jinga, the Romanian Ambassador to the Court of St James's, brings together Romanian and British authors, publishers and other professionals from both sides of the English Channel. As of last year's edition of the fair, Romania's stand has been personalised by Romanian graphic designer Zoe Olaru.
7pm/ European Bookshop/ 5 Warwick Street
Emblems of Identity: New Romanian Books in English
The latest Romanian books in English as well as books about Romania signed by British authors are presented at the European Bookshop in the heart of London, home to the only section of books in the Romanian original in the UK. Featuring authors Liviu Antonesei (The Innocent and Collateral Victims of a Bloody War with Russia, Profusion Publishing); Marius Turda (Latin Eugenics in Comparative Perspective, Bloomsbury Publishing House); Daniel Briggs, Dorina Dobre (Culture and Immigration in Context: An Ethnography of Romanian Migrant Workers in London, Palgrave Macmillan); Nigel Shakespear (Times New Romanian: Voices and narrative from Romania, Matador) and Ian Macilwain (In Search of the Village Distilleries of Maramures, Broombank Publishing).
Free entry. Please book in advance.
Wednesday 15 April
7pm/ RCI London/ 1 Belgrave Square
Dwelling in Words: An Evening with Ana Blandiana
Poet Ana Blandiana recalls, in the company of some of her most outstanding translators and commentators, her exceptional personal and poetic journey that turned a talented young literary aspirant, with a family background that was undesirable for the communist system, into a legendary writer who, book after book, has distilled the tribulations of a national soul haunted by lies and violence. The special guest's interlocutors are poets Fleur Adcock and Vidyan Ravinthiran, together with translators Viorica Patea and Paul Scott Derrick. Ana Blandiana will read excerpts from My Native Land A4, her most recent book published in English by Bloodaxe Books in 2014.
The dialogues and readings of the evening will be punctuated with musical interventions by saxophonist Nicolas Simion and guitarist Sorin Romanescu, who will introduce to the London audience their newly released "Romanian Impressions" jazz suite.
Free entry. Please book in advance.
Thursday 16 April
7pm/ RCI London/ 1 Belgrave Square
The Opening of Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Romanian Romance
The exhibition follows, through a collage of old photographs and emblematic excerpts, Patrick Leigh Fermor's Romanian escapades recalled in his hugely successful travel memoirs Between the Woods and the Water and The Broken Road, depicting people and landscapes that were at the root of the author's lifetime affection to Romania.
7:30pm/ RCI London/ 1 Belgrave Square
The Enamoured Way: Patrick Leigh Fermor and Romania
Historian and travel writer Alan Ogden, writer and journalist Tom Fort, as well as some of Patrick Leigh Fermor's friends belonging to the Romanian exile in London - Michael de Styrcea, Şerban Cantacuzino and Marie-Lyse Ruhemann, discuss the famous writer's fascination with Romania, examining his vivid and meaningful perceptions and observations, always informed by solid historical, cultural and linguistic knowledge.
Free entry. Please book in advance.
The Romanian presence at the LBF 2015 is organised by the Romanian Cultural Institute's National Book Centre and the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, with the support of the Romanian Embassy, European Bookshop, Romanian Publishers Association and Patrick Leigh Fermor Society. The project is funded by the Romanian Cultural Institute.
Copyright © 2015 Romanian Cultural Institute in London, All rights reserved.
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